William Ahrendt was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1933. He holds a Masters degree in Art History from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art where he won the…
Michael received a Master of fine Arts Degree from Utah State University. During his college years, he took many courses in technical drafting, learning about line drawings, shading, and three-dimensional renderings. This trained him to see detail and strive for…
Roy was born in New Hampshire and received his formal study at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and the Art Center School of Los Angeles. He joined the ranks of professional illustrators in New York and Chicago where he…
James Ayers graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1991. After graduation, he spent time traveling on foot with the semi-nomadic Samburu and Turkana people in Africa's Great Rift Valley. He then spent three years visiting Native American…
Suzanne was raised in the town of Three Rivers in the foothills of the Sierras in California. Surrounded by large ranches, she became very familiar with the cowboy life. Her mother was an artist who raised four children during very…
Austin Barton was raised in the Snake River, and Wallowa Valleys of Eastern Oregon, where he gained an intimate knowledge of the western way of life. Austin loves many aspects of that life and reflects those feelings and influences in…
Jacquelyn Bischak grew up on a 110-acre thoroughbred farm,
and spent her childhood with farm-work. Her father, an inventor and boat
builder, and mother, an interior designer, sketched their ideas daily.
“Drawing and creativity were considered to be like
breathing…
Like father, like son. So it is with artist Teal Blake and his
father, Buckeye Blake, well-known western artist.
While growing up, Teal was surrounded by western art and the
creators of that genre. His father's artist friends, Cary…
Originally from
Tempe, Arizona, Nelson Boren credits his mother as his earliest artistic
influence. A painter, she only allowed Nelson to hang posters in his
bedroom that he had painted. While studying architecture at Arizona State
University, Boren elected to…
Kenneth Bunn breathes action and life into his animal sculpture. Through his strong, personal and interpretive style he imbues a vitality and energy in his subjects that reflect their zest for life. Unlike two-dimensional painting, a sculpture must work from…
Growing up in North Ogden, Utah, Blair Buswell discovered that some people earned a living at what he like to do for fun. If he wasn't on the field playing sports, he could always be found playing with clay. Blair…
Ken Carlson, like many of his contemporaries, began his career in art as a commercial artist. He entered a "Draw Me" contest at the age of fifteen, won and took advantage of the prize, a two-year scholarship to the Art…
"I got my start in art probably the same way every other artist does: as soon as I could hold a crayon, drawing with anything that made a mark on anything that didn't move real fast. I drew probably the…
Raised in Lander, Wyoming, Scott Christensen settled in Jackson and became a successful painter at an early age. However, he never began painting until he was in college, but he credits his basic interest to seeing his wheel-chair bound grandfather…
Michael Coleman's paintings have been called a "synthesis of man and nature finding union in art." He is able to achieve that union in his art because he has long been on intimate terms with nature. As a boy, he…
Morgan was born in
Provo, Utah (June 30, 1970), and grew up hiking, fishing, and camping in the
Rocky Mountains with his father, and artist, Michael Coleman. At home, he
watched his father paint, and eventually, he spent a year…
John is a member of the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America and the National Sculpture Society who most often portrays subject matter based on Native American imagery. He has a distinctive style of capturing a mood and incorporating a type…
As a young boy, Robert Coombs had received one of the most exciting presents he could remember – a set of watercolor paints. He was so anxious to use them that he quickly grabbed a pad of paper and sat…
Bob Coronato used to open books and look at the "Old West" photos and see cowboys riding the open plains, and he would stop and think, "I wished I lived 100 years ago." After going out to the very remote…
Elaine is a traditional oil painter of today's Indian people. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and is presently living in Port Townsend, Washington with a few months spent in the Phoenix area each winter. "I began experimenting with my…
Son of an artist and opera singer, he painted from his childhood days in Chicago. After high school, he went to New York City, then enlisted in the Navy Air Corp before moving to the West Coast. In Los Angeles,…
Michael’s career as a successful
artist began in 1977, when he became a full time illustrator and oil painter.
He has done so many assignments, commissions and gallery paintings that he has
lost count. “Somewhere in the neighborhood of sixteen…
John Encinias was born near Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1949. Self-taught, he started painting at the age of fifteen and began working as a full-time professional artist in 1975. He prefers painting directly from various subject matter and describes…
Greg English has a natural eye for light source and believes "knowing shadow" is the key to drawing the observer into his paintings. Viewing Greg's work one would never believe he has had no formal training. His passion for detail…
Variety, color and differing techniques characterize the art of Cheryl English with rich earth tones reflecting a wide range of moods delicately placed on canvas or board. Over the years, she has taken workshops from a variety of painters, but…
Joni Falk, a realist painter of still life and landscapes, has called Phoenix home since 1960. She grew up in Chicago and is a graduate of Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the Southwest culture and history that provided the…
Born in Iowa in 1953, John attended Iowa State University Veterinary School and was a practicing veterinarian in Pennsylvania for nearly twenty years before becoming a full time artist. He brings this first hand knowledge of animals to life in…
Luke Frazier has quickly established himself as one of the West's most promising wildlife artists. Born and raised in northern Utah, Luke grew up in the mountains, hunting and fishing. These early forays into nature instilled in him a kinship…
After graduating from Notre Dame with an accounting degree, John C. Gawne traveled to the West for the first time. It was on this trip when he discovered the spirit of the American West that has drawn him there ever…
Daniel Gerhartz was born in 1965 in Wisconsin where he now lives with his wife Jennifer and their children. His interest in art piqued at an early age when a teenage friend suggested they spend one dreary afternoon drawing. It…
A sculptor of various sizes, including monumental bronzes of Indian figures, Richard Greeves was born and grew up in an Italian neighborhood in St. Louis where he lived in his words, a "Huck Finn childhood." At age 15, he met…
Brian
Grimm was born in Bastrop, Texas in 1968 and grew up in
the small of town of Elgin, Texas. His talent was
discovered at an early age and the rural farm life was rich with
inspiration. After achieving an art degree in 1992, Brian worked as a graphic…
Carol was born in 1962 in Central City, Nebraska but at the age of 7 she and her family moved to Montana where she still lives. Residing in this terrain has afforded her the opportunity to nurture her deep love…
Ray was born and raised in northern California. As a young boy, he didn't want any toys, just a ball of clay, paperclip and rubber bands to make his own toys. Drawing was something that was a high priority for…
G. Harvey grew up in the Texas Hill country listening to his father and grandfather relate stories to him about ranch life, the old frontier days in Texas and driving cattle across the Red River. During the earlier part of…
Dick Heichberger was born in Eden, New York. While in elementary school, he attended an Andrew Wyeth exhibit at the Buffalo Museum of Fine Art, where he became interested in art. During his formative years, Heichberger developed his interest in…
"The field of Western art is limitless in its challenges," Karin Hollebeke says, "I cannot think of a more rewarding subject matter. I am fortunate to live in the West, to be an artist, and to spend my life surrounded…
Chauncey Homer was born and raised in northwestern New Mexico. His family was full of artists so Chauncey grew up thinking everybody in the world could draw. His early drawings were based upon comic book characters. From that point of…
Russ' desire to paint comes in large measure from his love of the West, its people and the variety of experiences they find themselves in. Born the son of Marine Corp parents, Russ spent time drawing the military activities around…
Donna Howell-Sickles' subject of empowered cowgirl figures dates back to 1972 when she stumbled across a 1950s hand-tinted postcard. It featured a waving cowgirl and under it was the inscription: "Greetings for a Real Cowgirl of the Southwest." The notion…
Modernism, realism, and a passion for the West are all strongly in Harry Jackson's blood. Born in Chicago in 1924, he ran away from home at age fourteen to become a cowboy and managed to get to Wyoming. He stopped…
Oreland Joe is a world-renowned for his work in stone and bronze sculptures. His works can be found in private, corporate and museum collections in the United States and abroad. Oreland is a native New Mexican and is of Navajo…
Raised in both Oklahoma
and Texas, Greg Kelsey spent most of his life around two parallel interests,
art and ranching. His sculptures reflect his long involvement with 'cowboy
life' and his love of western history.
He grew up working
his…
T. D. Kelsey grew up on a ranch near Bozeman, Montana. In 1964 he married his high school sweetheart, Sid. For many years he rodeoed in rough stock events and team roping. Presently, TD trains and shows his own cutting…
In spring, 1996, his painting, "Moon Dancer-Wolves" was voted the favorite piece in the Wild Wings Fall Festival in Lake City, Minnesota. In summer, 1998, his painting "White Hot and Ice Gold" won the People's choice Master Palette award at…
As a young boy, Steven Lang fell in love with a book of paintings of the Old West by Frederic Remington. He knew then that some day he would strive to become part of and contribute to the world of…
Mehl Lawson is an artist in two mediums, sculpture and horses. He is an heir to the proud vaquero tradition of Old California: a dedicated discipline of the refined, subtle elegance of the Santa Barbara style that inspired the creative…
The horses in artist Joyce Lee's paintings are not just accessories to her landscapes. Nor do her landscapes serve as convenient backdrops for her horses. Under her masterful use of brush and palette knife, she integrates all subject matter with…
Joplin, Missouri in
1959 is the birthplace and birth date of Jeff Legg, an emerging artist. As
early as four years of age, Jeff was demonstrating his aptitude for drawing and
by age 12 was an apprentice to a well-known…
Jeremy Lipking
resides in Calabasas, California. He attended the California Art Institute in
Westlake Village where he now teaches.
Jeremy Lipking found
immediate success and respect in the art market when he brought his first
paintings to sale in 2000.…
A sculptor of life-size animals, especially horses in realist style, Cammie Lundeen completes many pieces that have natural colors and finely polished texture. She achieves this finish by sanding the completed work with fine grit and then polishing it. Lundeen…
As a young boy Alvin Marshall was taken from his home on a Navajo reservation and placed in boarding school where he was not permitted to speak the Navajo language or practice its traditions. By the age of ten he…
Working out of a studio on a lake in the Osage Hills of Oklahoma, Jan McGuire became a full time wildlife painter. Her subjects range from tigers to chipmunks. She is dedicated to ecology and conservation, expressed in her series…
A
wildlife, portrait, and still-life painter in realist, Old Master style,
Krystii Melaine reflects her fascination with her subjects' appearance,
behavior, light color and form.
Melaine
grew up in an area by Bairnsdale, Victoria, which had much forested land, and…
The following text are excerpts from Prescott Living Magazine, Prescott, Arizona Volume One, Issue Four 2005, submitted by the artist: Known for his life-like portraits of Native American life, Prescott's George Molnar is a champion of composition, detail, and communicative…
After graduating from art school, Jay Moore worked in a graphic design firm in Denver for two years before working on his own as an illustrator. The pressures of illustration pushed him to a level of professionalism that he carries…
“I took the leap from realism to impressionism and beyond, suggesting movement and creating action with a palette knife. Inspired by animals and color everywhere. That’s what Montana will do to you.”
In 2007 Moore was honored with the Ralph “Tuffy” Berg…
Eugene Morelli combines his studies in biology with twenty five years of sculpting experience. His work blends accuracy, detail and artistic sculptural design to capture motion and the essence of each subject. Recently, a piece was selected for the permanent…
Utah native, Richard Murray spent years finding his niche in the art world. At the age of 20 Murray knew he wanted to paint but after enrolling at The University of Utah during the Vietnam era he was discouraged by…
Since moving to Arizona from rural Iowa in 1968, Gayle Nason's love for the Southwest and her fascination with the historical legacy of its native people has added a new dimension to her still life paintings. Deeply moved by the…
Phill Nethercott looks out the window of his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and can see the distant majestic Teton mountain range. Jackson Hole, with its grand mountains, vast rivers and lakes and seasonal changes, has always been known as…
Pedersen paints from life in a studio lit by northern light in her house in the historic district of Silver City, New Mexico. She loves "the cool, suffused light-what it does to modeling and shadows and the mood it creates."…
Robert Peters' career as a professional artist has spanned more than 25 years. He is presently a regular contributor to prestigious museum exhibitions such as the Prix de West and Masters of the American West. His paintings are widely collected…
Erik Petersen was born in Lompoc, California in 1976 and now lives in Prescott, Arizona. He began drawing and painting at a very young age. This inspired the life long passion for art that led him to work at a bronze…
An intense childhood interest in drawing and painting gave Mark Pettit an early start in the pursuit of becoming an artist, but there was little in his early efforts to suggest that he would attain his current level of success…
Kyle
Polzin was born in Cuero, Texas in 1974. At a young age, his family moved to
Victoria, Texas where he grew up working closely with his father to develop his
artistic skills. Craftsmanship is not uncommon in the Polzin…
Encouraged as a child by the wealth of landscape and artist interpretation in the Bay Area and with such early experiences as Van Gogh's exhibition at De Young Museum in San Francisco, John Poon developed an appreciation of art at…
Chad Poppleton is a resident of Cache Valley Utah and has been interested in art ever since he can remember. His interest began while on the farm and ranch with his grandfather while working with the animals and understanding their…
James has played guitars for 30 years as a hobby and has been a professional watercolor and oil painter for 20 years. His guitar playing is as vast as his landscape art is expansive. James's first professional art show was…
Elizabeth
was raised in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. As a child, her Grandmother's
would help her identify various wild flowers at their cabin above Oakley, Utah.
This is where her love of flowers began. "I still have the book…
An impressionist oil painter of scenes of the Old West, he was inspired by the work of Frederic Remington, N.C. Wyeth, and John Singer Sargent as well as the Dutch Old Masters and the French Impressionists. He was born in…
Jason's love of western life and art both began in his childhood. He grew up on a small farm in southern Idaho spending his time either riding, training, or drawing horses. His western roots and passion for art influenced his…
Born in Santa Monica, California, he became one of the Southwest's best known artists in the late 20th Century with a wide range of subjects from romantic figure to western art to still-lifes. His art was encouraged by his father…
Gary Lynn Roberts was
raised in Texas and has been painting since the age of fourteen. He grew up in an atmosphere permeated
by art, his major influence being his father, noted Western artist Joe Rader
Roberts. In addition to…
Aaron Schuerr, a signature member of the Pastel Society
of America, is a dedicated plein-air painter based in Livingston, Montana.
Working in both oil and pastel, he brings a quiet intimacy and sensitive
rendering of light to the varied landscapes of…
From and early age, Tim Shinabarger developed an obsession with wildlife and wild places. He took a few art classes while attending Eastern Montana College where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business. He furthered his art education…
Robert “Shoofly” Shuflet was born in Champaign, Illinois on
February 16, 1935. Shoofly is the
accomplished exponent of the pencil. His work has gained worldwide recognition saluting drawings as eminent
works of art rather than envisions for greater achievement by…
The innocence of childhood. Memories, hopes, and celebrations. Expressions and gestures, preserved forever. The art of Dennis Smith, whether sculpture, painting, or assemblage, transcends time. Dennis is as much a philosopher as he is an artist. His work is a…
If there was ever an artist who captured today's sporting experience with yesterday's sense of adventure, it is Brett Smith. Born on March 19, 1958 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Smith is now considered to be among the best in his…
George D. Smith "Dee" was born in Cody, Wyoming on January 3, 1944. He attended Cody Public Schools and graduated with honors in 1968. He then entered Montana State University at Bozeman and received his degree in architecture. During his…
Michael Stack was
born in New York in 1947 and raised in California. He is self-taught and has
always been interested in art, primarily landscape painting. For the past
twenty years, he has lived and painted in New Mexico and…
Phil Starke became interested in art as a child living in Europe (Germany), where he had the opportunity to enjoy the great masters in the museums of Italy and Germany. Committed to traditional painting styles, Phil Starke studied at the…
"Beginning with my childhood and continuing to this day, I have had a love affair with lakes, ponds, rivers and streams that borders on obsessive," says artist Lee Stroncek. "These forms of water have provided me with endless hours of…
Gregory Sumida started his professional art career as a teen in California. His passions for painting and history have driven Sumida to create unique works in gouache, oil and egg tempera. A true renaissance man, Sumida makes his own paint…
The son of world-renowned wildlife artist Gary R. Swanson, Trevor is a brilliant example of inspired talent passing from one generation to another. With his father's guidance, Trevor started painting at a very young age. Almost intuitively, he acquired an…
Tim Tanner was born and raised on a small horse ranch in northern Utah, with family roots extending back through a long line of ranchers, miners, and pioneers in northwestern Utah and southwestern Montana. As a young man, if Tim…
A native Californian, Jerry Venditti is a painter of trompe l'oeil still life of Southwest motifs and also a painter of landscapes. He is a first generation Italian American who grew up in the Bay area, and he and his…
Greg S. Wallace, the son of an artist and teacher, was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1954. A number of art awards at a young age nurtured an interest and confidence in the arts. His formal art training was…
Education
Farmington, New Mexico High School; Graduated 1969
New Mexico State University; 1969-1971
Taos Art Colony; Apprentice
Honors and Awards
2007 Chosen
as one of "Eight True Masters" by Art of the West Magazine, Nov./Dec.
2007 …
Tal Walton was born in 1965 and attended Brigham Young University, receiving a bachelor's degree in painting and sculpture. Walton was influenced by his professor, who taught him that a good painting is laid out according to logical symmetry. His…
Jove Wang was born in China. As a youth, at age seven he apprenticed with the master painter Gang Gu, subsequently studying at Jilin School of Art for three years and graduating in 1982. In 1984 he was accepted into…
After
studying painting and illustration at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he
graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Williams went on to be in-house
Artist/Designer for Hallmark Cards and DaySpring Cards for the next ten years.
Today,…
"The history of our country has always
fascinated me. I paint people in the historical environment - creating an
atmosphere, rather than detailing the event itself. In this way, you can see
and understand - even feel - that…
When Dan Young took his fly rod and backpack into the high country while growing up in Colorado, his angling success came from learning to read lakes and streams with a fisherman's eye, and to cast and retrieve a line…
Rod was born in 1965 in Bucks
County, Pennsylvania. At the age
of five, Rod’s grandmother, a painter, encouraged his parents to send him to
private art lessons with a well-known Buck’s Country impressionist. The consummate student of art, Rod…
Joan Zygmunt began her professional artistic career around 20 years ago. Joan is comfortable and skilled in wood, stone and bronze, producing wonderfully detailed sculptures that depict her favorite subjects--birds and flowers. Her work has been exhibited and won awards…
